Outpouring of love and nostalgia stop Microsoft from killing MS Paint

They decided to kill it off at the ripe old age of 32. However, the love and support on social media, helped revive it. Requests to Microsoft to save Paint were heeded, and the tech giant announced that anybody could download the program in the form of a free app from Windows Store.

Last week, reports of Microsoft’s intention to kill Paint surfaced. The program found its way to the list of “deprecated” applications. This means that the programmers will no longer work on updating it, pointing to the fact that it may not be a part of Windows 10 Creators Update. It was also reported that the popular program will be replaced by a 3D version under Microsoft’s 3D for everyone initiative.

Paint has been a part of every version of Windows since 1985. As soon as the word got out, social media was full of nostalgic posts about the program. Many expressed grief and anguish over the discontinuation of the graphic editing program that has been a part of their childhood.

Microsoft took note, too! And, the general manager of 3D at the company Megan Saunders put up a post on Microsoft’s official blog, the headline of which was enough for Paint fans to rejoice. It declared that the company is only shifting the base of MS Paint which will still be a free app available on Windows Store instead of being a default part of their flagship operating system.

” If there’s anything we learned, it’s that after 32 years, MS Paint has a lot of fans. It’s been amazing to see so much love for our trusty old app,” she wrote in the post. She also took the chance to put in a word about Paint 3D, saying it would retain many familiar and loved characteristics of Paint.